Chapter 7: ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ (๐)
Chapter 7: ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ง๐ ๐จ๐ ๐๐ก๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐จ๐จ๐ (๐)
โWhoโs there?โ
Johan hesitated to enter the hall and looked around. There was no point in going inside, as he was bound to receive nothing but the disapproving gazes of his stepbrother and stepmother if he did.
Fortunately, Johan had his other foolish stepbrothers. He spoke mockingly to them.
โDo you guys even know who came?โ
โWhat? Who doesnโt know that Sir Karamaf has arrived, you rascal! Are you looking for a fight?โ
When alone, Johan doesnโt argue, but when the three brothers are together, they seem to gain courage. Fern, Jan, and Marcel, the three brothers who share the same mother, hurled insults at Johan.
โYou canโt even talk back to Sir Karamaf?โ
โHmm.โ
Johan pondered for a moment. A knight as famous as Karamaf must have solid connections.
But would he view Johan favorably?
Meanwhile, a cold conversation ensued inside. Johan, along with his brothers, eavesdropped at the door.
โInsane. Approaching him means death.โ
Johan decisively gave up. Sir Karamaf was terribly cold, perhaps having been extorted by Sir Gessen.
โAmazing. . . Thatโs a real knight!โ
โRight!โ
โIdiots.โ
Johan shook his head. These fools forgot whom Sir Karamaf was angry with.
โWhat are you doing there?โ
โ!โ
A young, armed elf knight from the other end of the corridor sharply questioned. Judging by the youthful face, he was clearly a squire, around Johanโs age or slightly younger.
โA noble knight from Erlans Kingdom? Sir Karamafโs offspring?โ
If not Karamafโs squire, he had no reason to be here. Johan quickly recognized him and decided to leave.
โYou, the son of Sir Gessen?โ
โAnd if I am?โ
โI am Yein Rothtain. A noble offspring of Sir Karamaf and future knight of the Rothtain family.โ
โI am Johan Aitz. Not exactly a knight to inherit a family.โ
Yein stared intently at Johan, as if assessing his abilities. Johanโs appearance seemed to provoke a knightโs challenge.
โItโs hard to determine an elfโs gender.โ
Elves are mostly beautiful, making it hard to distinguish between male and female. Plus, Yein had a thin voice and delicate features.
Johanโs half-brother chimed in.
โI am Fern Aitz. . .โ
โI wasnโt asking you. I heard there are no decent knights among Sir Gessenโs sons, but now it seems otherwise. Care for a duel?โ
โIโd rather not.โ
Johan waved his hand, turning away to avoid trouble. Then Yein forcefully grabbed his hand.
โI havenโt finished. Why refuse a knightโs rightful request?โ
Despite his boyish face, Yeinโs hand was hard and strong. Johan internally scoffed. Even after being born and living long in this world, he couldnโt fully adapt to such a mindset.
Nobles born and raised as knights naturally thought this way.
For honorable knights, crossing swords was a matter of course!
Of course, for Johan, it was a pointless endeavor with no benefit. Even if he defeated Yein, Karamaf wouldnโt introduce Johan anywhere.
โNot in the mood.โ
โNot in the mood?! Why?! Is something wrong? Are you hurt?โ
โUh. . . my heart.โ
โYour heart! . . .Are you mocking me?โ
Yeinโs face scrunched up, and his grip tightened. But it was like boasting of strength in front of an elephant. Johanโs expression remained unchanged.
Realizing this, Yein exerted all his strength. Though still a squire, he was already a knight in all but name. She had trained as a knight for nearly a decade, and with a weapon, he could kill a dozen soldiers.
His strength was unbelievable for his small stature. If another half-brother had held his hand, their bones would have broken.
Yeinโs face started to show shock. Johan had begun to exert his strength.
โ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ. . .!โ
Trained under Sir Karamaf, Yein had never been defeated in strength. Though small in stature, his strength was innate.
The other three half-brothers shouted.
โWhat are you doing, Johan! To Sir Karamafโs protรฉgรฉ. . .โ
โHave I won?โ
โNot. . . not yet!โ
Yein exerted her utmost strength, but it was no match.
Legendary giant-like strength!
Yein thought so inwardly. She couldnโt believe one of Sir Gessenโs sons possessed such monstrous strength.
Johan could have let go but maintained his grip until he surrendered. He knew from experience that people in this world would draw their swords if not defeated outright.
โ๐โ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ง ๐ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ.โ
If Sir Karamaf heard his protรฉgรฉโs hand bones were crushed, he wouldnโt stay quiet. It was dirty and low but he had to endure.
โI lost!โ
โRight. It was a good fight. Iโm glad to have battled a noble knight, Yein Rothtain.โ
โWhat good fight are you talking about?!โ
Yein, rubbing his hand, glared at Johan. It must have hurt quite a bit.
โSorry, but I havenโt been properly trained as a knight. A fair fight would be difficult.โ
โIs that so? My apologies.โ
Yein said, surprised.
Not all children of knights were trained as knights. Some were just of knightly lineage.
โBut you have the potential. Itโs not too late to learn.โ
โIโll try.โ
โIf you do learn, letโs fight again!โ
Johanโs half-brother, overhearing, interjected.
โIโm Fern Aitz, Yein Rothtain. Fight me. . .โ
โYouโre too weak. Train more before you come.โ
โ. . . . . .โ
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
Yein was a well-taught apprentice knight. He didnโt show resentment after losing a fight he had initiated himself. Although it was a knightโs rule to behave so, not everyone in the world followed rules. By adhering to this rule, Yein earned a good reputation from Johan.
If Yein had held a grudge and spoken ill of Sir Karamaf, Johan would have been very tired.
Thus, there was no problem for Johan, but issues arose for the Aitz family.
The men who came with Sir Karamaf began to stay in the familyโs fief. They did not blatantly cause trouble, but neither did they consider the Aitz familyโs circumstances.
The servants of the house were on edge while serving these men. The situation was worsened by the conflict between the eldest son John, who insisted on sending Karamaf away, and Mrs. Aitz, who wanted to leverage Karamafโs presence.
โThis isnโt beer, itโs ditch water.โ
โIโm sorry.โ
โDonโt you have wine?โ
โSorry. . .โ
โI was foolish to expect more from such a place. Enough.โ
โEven whatโs available here smells foul.โ
Johan wandered outside. Yein, seemingly fascinated by Johanโs talent, kept pestering him to teach swordsmanship. Johan could have shown his skill and then left Yein alone, but he chose not to.
Initially, Johan thought this would make Yein more bothersome, but then realized it wasnโt the case.
Johan was on guard against Sir Karamaf and his men.
โOh. I never believed in superstitions.โ
The words left by Kaegal bothered Johan. Displaying his swordsmanship to Yein and overpowering him would surely reach Karamafโs ears. . .
Strangely, Johan was hesitant to reveal his skills.
โJoseph. Are you unwell?โ
โJohan-nim.โ
Johan noticed the hunter Joseph walking with a pale face.
โItโs nothing.โ
Joseph hesitated to speak, fearing he might escalate the issue. Others in the town thought Joseph was close to Johan, but Joseph didnโt see it that way.
Just as a wolf and a deer donโt become friends, a noble and a serf canโt be close. Joseph knew that even a friendly noble could turn on him at any moment.
Among the nobles, Johan was known to be polite and kind, but Joseph never let his guard down. He maintained his distance, a wisdom acquired from his long life as a hunter.
โIs it a story you canโt share with me?โ
โNo, itโs not that! Itโs just that I feel guilty telling Johan-nim. . .โ
โIโm disappointed. A knight who canโt even listen to the troubles of his fiefโs people.โ
โDamn it.โ
Joseph inwardly grumbled at Johanโs indirect torment. Unlike his brothers, Johan was deep and cunning. What could he do against such a noble? He just had to endure.
โThere are knights who have come to the feudatory, you know.โ
Strictly speaking, only a few of them were knights, the rest were cavalrymen following their orders, but for Joseph, there wasnโt much difference.
If someone on a horse, wearing armor and wielding a sword says โ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ตโ, you have to prostrate and say โ๐๐ฉ ๐บ๐ฆ๐ด, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ตโ, rather than saying โ๐ ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ตโ๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต, ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถโ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ข ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ข๐ณ๐บโ, right?
โThose people heard the rumors about the black wolf and kept trying to enter the forest. . . So, I was assigned to guide them.โ
Since entering deeper into the forest required permission, it was clear that the matter had already been settled between Philip and Mrs. Aitz. Neither of them were likely to refuse.
โ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ช๐ตโ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ.โ
For Joseph, however, it was an unexpected predicament, in many ways.
First, the problem was entering a forest with a cunning monster like the black wolf. The knights might be confident in their strength, but he didnโt have the confidence to confront the black wolf directly. And would the knights protect him? Heโd be lucky if he wasnโt used as bait.
And if they were lucky enough not to encounter the black wolf, that was also a problem. Where would the knights direct their frustration?
The serfs, like those of the feudal lord, were also property of the feudatory, so the sons of the Aitz family didnโt cross the line even when they caused trouble. But these knights were different. They had nothing to do with Joseph, and wouldnโt bat an eye if he died.
โIs that so? Iโll help.โ
โWhat?!โ
โI said I would help. Are you hard of hearing?โ
โNo, itโs not that. . .โ
Joseph looked bewildered at Johanโs words. โ๐๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ?โ